-Down to Earth Vasundhara Raje government adopts targeted approach for the scheme which can now be availed only by beneficiaries of Food security programme The Rajasthan government has downsized its much-acclaimed free medicines and diagnostics scheme, the Mukhyamantri Nishulk Dava Yojna, launched in 2011. The Vasundhara Raje-led BJP government has adopted a "targeted approach" in implementing the scheme which was a "universal" one when launched by the previous Congress-led UPA regime. Public...

-Thomson Reuters India is confident that it will be able to persuade members of the 160-strong World Trade Organisation to understand its concerns over Food security which derailed a global trade deal last week, said Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in parliament today. The minister explained India's stand: that the Bali trade accord, an agreement reached on the Indonesian tourist island last year, should be concluded as a package, linking India's ratification of...

-Live Mint India's stand at WTO should be seen in the context of the persistent discrimination against Third World countries by advanced countries In the ongoing debate about agriculture and Food security, India has been accused of having acted in a dogmatic manner for refusing to ratify the trade facilitation agreement unless its Food security concerns are addressed in the World Trade Organization (WTO). However, this issue and India's stand have to...

-The Financial Express Despite the delayed monsoon and slow progress in sowing, the government on Monday set a 30 million tonne (mt) rice procurement target for the 2014-15 kharif marketing season, starting October. Despite the delayed monsoon and slow progress in sowing, the government on Monday set a 30 million tonne (mt) rice procurement target for the 2014-15 kharif marketing season, starting October. This is a moderate revision from the previous year's kharif...

-The Hindu Business Line While some farmers organisations have welcomed the Narendra Modi Government's stance in World Trade Organisation, some others feel that the Government's actions do not match its words with regard to its stance on Food security and farm subsidies at home. "We totally support the Government's stand on WTO's Trade Facilitation Agreement. In fact, in a country like ours, agriculture should be totally kept out of the purview of...